Abstract:
This paper explores the phenomenon known as 'quantitative metathesis' in Ancient
Greek. Historically this change, an apparent metathesis of vowel length, has been
considered to be true metathesis by classicists, but recent scholarship has cast suspicion
on this notion, not least because metathesis of vowel length is not a known change in
any other language. In this paper, I present a review of previous scholarship on Greek
quantitative metathesis, in addition to a cross-linguistic survey of general metathesis,
with special attention to autosegmental theory. I conclude that Greek quantitative
metathesis is not true metathesis, but rather a retention and reassociation of abstract
timing units through the two individual (and well-attested) processes of antevocalic
shortening and compensatory lengthening.
